Telegraph, The Sun move to paid-for online content model

Both the Telegraph and The Sun websites will soon sit behind paywalls, it has been confirmed.

Consumers will be able to read 20 stories for free on the Telegraph site before being faced with the paywall, reports mediaweek.com, with Telegraph Media Group (TMG) revealing that £1.99 per month packaged deal (or £20 per year) will get people unlimited access to the site and its apps.

Graham Horner, marketing director at TMG, said: “Our priority is always to deliver choice and value to our customers; the continual evolution of our subscription packages ensures that we deliver on this promise.”

If people want tablet access to ‘The Daily Telegraph’ and ‘Sunday Telegraph’, they will need to pay £9.99 per month or £99 per year. Rival newspaper ‘The Times’ has had its paywall in place since 2010.

Similarly, the website for News International tabloid ‘The Sun’ looks set to follow them behind the paywall, reports guardian.co.uk. For people in the media jobs London has on offer, this may be seen as positive news, as more money could come into the industry.

TMG, for one, has announced that it will be recruiting 50 digital staff, although this comes after more roles were axed recently.

Reflecting on the paywall decision at ‘The Sun’, News International chief executive Mike Darcey said: “This decision comes from a deep-seated belief that it is just untenable to have 2.4 million paying 40p for the Sun at the same time as a bunch of people are getting it for free.”